Garmin Recalls 1.3 Million GPS Devices For Fire Hazard

So you’re driving down the highway, looking for the exit that will lead to the secluded cabin where you and your long-lost twin have arranged to meet for the first time. The turn-by-turn directions intoned by your Garmin Nuvi are a welcome threshold to cling to as anxiety churns through your stomach. Then, there it is, the offramp, its emerald sign throbbing gently as your headlights pass over it. Relief washes through your veins, just as your GPS unit explodes into a ball of flames, instantly turning you and everything inside your car to ash!

Nothing like that has been reported in the 1.2 million Garmin Nuvi devices recalled for battery overheating that increases the risk of fire hazard affecting model numbers 200W, 250W, 260W, 7xx and 7xxt where xx is a two digit number, but man, if it did, what a story that would be.

I have several nuvis (family and multiple vehicles and all) and it appears none of the ones I’ve checked so far are recalled. My 660 does have a battery problem like you describe, though. The culprit, as far as I’m concerned, is the fact that my car shuts off DC power to the cigarette lighter plug whenever the ignition is turned off. So every time you start the car, the GPS goes through another charging cycle. If you stop 5 times in a trip… 5 times it starts charging again.

Coupled with the horrendous crashing issues on my 1490T, I would probably look elsewhere if there was a worthwhile option. But even with all their woes, IMO Garmin is still the best consumer grade GPS out there.

They’re gonna have to wait until after my Florida vacation on Labor Day. I’ll take the risk of flaming death. Maybe then I can get a map that shows the road to where my house is, which has been there for over 5 years and is shown on Google maps, but Garmins newest maps still don’t have it….

I’ve always wondered why they bother putting Li-ION batteries in GPS’s. They come with a cigarette lighter cord, that is (presumably) always plugged in. When do you run it off the battery? They could just use a AAA battery or a coin cell to keep the clock going when it’s unpowered; the GPS receiver can acquire signal much more quickly if it already knows what time it is.

Seems like this would lower cost, avoid flaming batteries and have no effect on the average user…

The Garmin Nuvis should also be recalled for giving inaccurate directions! I can’t tell you how many times this GPS told me to basically drive off a cliff when driving down very narrow roads in the Alps. Not cool. The device also lost signal all the time while driving around the German/Swiss border in a beautiful summer day. Was the sky too clear? Were we too high up, you know, too close to the satellites?

This reads like a Bulwer Lytton submission (a pretty good one). I’d probably make the twins Siamese twins, perhaps throw in a few more throbbings, pulsatings, etc. Of course, it always pays to have the protagonist say, or better yet, think, something pithy/outrageous before exploding into ash.

Off the top of my head:
“Oh, well. At least it’s a rental.”
“Did I leave the iron on?”
“I just now realized Aunt Delores has some disgusting nose hair going on.”
“I wonder if my long lost twin enjoys headcheese as much as I do.”